The Torch ARARAT PRIMARY SCHOOL 800

PO Box 225 / 70 —78 Moore St

Ararat VIC 3377

P: 03 5352 1253 F: 03 5352 4926

E: ararat.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

W: www.araratps.vic.edu.au

October 9th, 2014

Principal’s Report Dear parents and friends of Ararat Primary 800, Our return to school routine this week has been a very smooth one, with students and staff settling quickly back to work, with a sense of enthusiasm, purpose and determination. Term four is always the busiest in the school year, with programs wrapping up, assessments undertaken, reports written, and preparations for the new school year completed. We are very keen to finalise our 2015 student numbers as soon as possible, and will appreciate word from you if your child will not be with us in the new-year, or if you have a Prep student due to commence with us. Enrolment forms are available from the school office. Prep transition events are planned for November 21st and 28th and December 5th and 9th, with Kinder Buddy visits scheduled for the week beginning November 10th. Last term ended on a high with our highly entertaining final assembly. Special highlights included performances by Mrs McKay’s piano students and our Boite Choir team, the presentation of badges of office to our second semester SRC representatives, and the announcement of end of term Student Achievement Awards. Congratulations to the following students on their achievements:

Prep M and Prep D – Rhiannon Lillis, Tristan Coelho, Sylvan Day and Innika McKinnis

Grade 1-2 T – Emily Digney and Auston Boyd

Grade 1-2 S – Olivia Graham and Kodi Primmer

Grade 1-2 FC – Mikaela Young and Seth Dairo

Grade 1-2 AC – Deakan Hemley and Ava Kahle-Phillips

Grade 3-4 M – Ellouise McAuliffe and Bailee Turner

Grade 3-4 B – Jenae Marr and Bailey Pennycad

Grade 3-4 FJ – Sruthi Kalluri and Beau Roberts

Grade 5-6 H – Havana Madex and Jackson Morale

Grade 5-6 C – Carly Sporton and Ethan Bennett

Grade 5-6 S – Brianna Osmond and Jeremy Breen

Specialists – Brodie Jensen and Holly McAdie

Office – Rhiarna Richards and Jacob Powell Photos from our celebrations are featured overleaf. Special congratulations to two of Mrs McKay’s students who supported the Ararat Eisteddfod during the holidays – Daina Jerram and Grace Calvird were awarded 2nd place in the Open Piano Duet section. Grace also received 2nd place in the Own-Selection piece (50km radius of Ararat) and an Encouragement Award in the 2nd or 3rd Grade AMEB section. Well done, girls – and Mrs McKay! Our school continued to be a very busy place during the break, with Vacation Care in full swing, and painting, electrical, air-conditioning and grounds works undertaken. In a radical change, we’ve returned our office foyer feature wall to its original deep red, and given 3-4FJ’s

classroom a major make-over. We’re very pleased with the dramatic results! On behalf of our school community, I extend sincere thanks to the Ralph family for their continuing support, and to Robert and Tahkin Smith who have made and donated post padding for our netball and basketball courts. Their generosity is greatly appreciated. Thank you, also, to our Senior School grounds team—Riley, Tim, Lachie, Kristian, Jordie, Kurtis and Jacob (kindly supported by Angela Day), who replenished our Prep World sand pit this week. Great work, everyone! The next few weeks and weekends are shaping up to be very busy for our students, staff and families, with the following events worth noting on your calendar:

Golden Gateway Festival launch and Pushcart Challenge for Years 5 and 6 on Friday, October 17th at Alexandra Gardens

NICA practice session in Melbourne on Saturday, October 18th

Grade 1 and 2 late night and sleepover on Thursday, October 23rd – our Year 1 students will head home after their barbecue tea, while the Year 2s will camp out for the night in the Circus Hall

Ararat Show parade on Sunday, October 26th. All students and their families are invited to join us for the parade, starting at 11:30am from the Ararat College Barkly Street entrance. Our SunSmart theme for this year is “Bring a Brolly”, and we encourage all of our walkers to decorate umbrellas in bright colours, and to practise their umbrella-spinning skills in preparation for the big occasion

The Ararat Primary School Arts Extravaganza, scheduled for 7:00pm on Thursday, November 6th at the Ararat Performing Arts Centre. Ticketing information will be included in next week’s newsletter. Please note that ticket purchases ($5 each) will be allocated, unlimited and available through TryBooking.

Our Year 1-2 Big Day Out to the Melbourne Zoo on November 13th – our students and staff are REALLY excited about this event!

Our Term 4 Active After School Communities Program will commence next week for enrolled students: Fitness and Games for Year Prep to 2 students on Monday afternoons, and golf coaching for Year 3 to 6 students on Thursday afternoons. Please contact the office as soon as possible if you’re interested in enrolling your child. Finally, a reminder that our Ararat 800 Blog Launch has been postponed to Wednesday, October 29th at 6:00pm in the Learning Centre. Please remember to return your reply slip so that we can organise catering. Kind regards,

Jennifer Molan

TERM DATES 2014

Term 4: 6th October - 19th December

TERM DATES 2015

Term 1: 2nd February - 27th March

School values: Respect Honesty Self Awareness Learning Belonging

EVENT GROUP COST DUE BACK BY

Grade 1 Late Night Buzzy Bees $5 Friday 17th October

Grade 2 Sleepover Buzzy Bees $10 Friday 17th October

FORMS SENT HOME THIS WEEK

It’s peak head lice season, so please continue to check your child’s hair

on a daily basis, and treat if required. Head lice screening will take

please during Week 4 of this term, commencing October 27th.

Our school was very excited at the end of Term 3 to work as a team to make our entry into the ‘Telstra Thanks Katy Perry: This Is Our School’ competition. Whether we win or not, we all enjoyed the process of making the video and we now have a wonderful clip that we can keep to show off our school. The winners will be announced TODAY, so fingers crossed!

To view the video, please use the link below:

https://vimeo.com/107098656

Katy Perry Video . . .

Science Fair . . .

Connect 4 in the playground. . . We have been holding the Connect 4 sessions under the big oak tree at the front of the school. We have not had many

children coming on certain days so that has caused us to change the timetable.

The new time able is:

Mondays Grade 3/4s

Tuesday Preps

Wednesday Grade 1/2s

Thursday Grade 5/6s

We would like to thank Ms Fiscalini for helping us each day. Each Monday morning at assembly, we

will present a certificate to a worthy student, for displaying skills and good gamesmanship.

By Olivia McG and Holly McA

What level of air pressure is suitable for life?

How do black holes affect the solar system?

How do volcanoes affect the environment?

Why are stars so important to us?

How do muscles recover in your body?

How does mould and bacteria affect us?

How does breast cancer affect people’s lives?

How do trees grow, and how do they affect the environment?

What causes global warming and how can we slow it down?

Missing School Jumpers . . .

Is your child wearing his or her jumper, or someone else’s?

We have a large collection of un-named school jumpers, and

we also have children who are missing NAMED school

jumpers. Please take the time to check your child’s jumper,

and return any that don’t belong to you.

Stay up to date with all our news and events

by following us on Facebook!

You can find us at:

www.facebook.com/AraratPrimarySchool

Oct 10th Patrick Toner

Matilda Hope

11th Darcy Aitken

12th Shelby McBain

13th Rhiarna Richards

Lucy Harwood

Ebony Segedinski

Seth Thomas

14th Nikita McDonald

15th Bella Belcher

Jessi Stewart

MON TUE WED THU FRI

“Hats on to be Sun Smart”

9th

10th Canteen

13th Assembly

AASC (Prep - 2) Commences

14th

15th 16th

AASC (Years 3 - 6) Commences

Extravaganza Bookings

Open

17th Canteen

Regional Athletics

Children’s Day – Pushcart

Challenge

20th Assembly

AASC (Prep - 2) 3:20—4:45

21st

School Council

22nd 23rd

1/2 sleepover/late night

AASC (Years 3 - 6) 3:20 - 4:45

24th Canteen

27th Assembly

Regional Golf

AASC (Prep - 2) 3:20—4:45

28th

Extravaganza Rehearsals

29th 30th

AASC (Years 3 - 6) 3:20 - 4:45

31st Canteen

NICA Saturday Oct 18th

Chalambar Cricket Club Under 13’s

Training starts at Richardson Oval

Thursday 9th October at 4:00pm

Contact

Tim on 0409 331 240

Term 3 Assembly . . .

SRC Representatives PREP D Asha Kent and Toby McGrath PREP M Mia Townsend and Miharo Green 1/2 AC Ashlyn Wheeler and Maxi Starick 1/2 T Sophie Cooper and Will Anderson 1/2 S Kaiden Cooper and Veruca Davies-Harrison 1/2 FC Rihanna Richards and Jacob Powell 3/4 M Joel McNaughton and Louise Cooper 3/4 B Sam Hanson and Tori Ralph 3/4 FJ Tori Wynd and Ashley Graham 5/6 C Emily Manning and Mitch McKinnis 5/6 S Rylie Walker and Alex Fraser 5/6 H Gab Hall and Callum Roberts